Question

The image below shows a fault.

A diagram showing plate movement with labels. The footwall is on the left and the hanging wall is on the right. The plates are moving away from each other.

Which describes the motion of the plates?

The hanging wall and footwall both move vertically.
Shearing is causing the plates to slide past each other.
The hanging wall moves down in relation to the footwall.
Compression is causing the plates to move toward each other.

Answer 1

The hanging wall moves down in relation to the footwall.

(When plates move away from each other it produces tension and a normal fault — the hanging wall drops down relative to the footwall.)